Caribana........ (hotel, live, price)

[ckhthankgod]

I know about the Caribbean Festival in Toronto. My sister has gone there before and had a good time. How long does it run until? Is it a pretty safe event? Do people from other groups in the Toronto area go to the event? Is it easy to get a room during that weekend? I know a lot of people from the Detroit and Buffalo areas go there too. Where is it located in the city?

[west_end_don]

Caribana (or whatever they changed the name to) is alot of fun. I can't believe there's been no response to this!
To answer the questions:
The main event is the parade on Lakeshore blvd. which is a one day affair. The festival itself, however runs a full week with two kiddie carinvals (kid mas), King & Queen costume event, food fairs, concerts, tons of clubs events.
The sanctioned events are safe, but there are a lot of informal events (i.e. Yonge St. lime) and some clubs which have had trouble in the past.
Book your hotel early, because alot of ppl come from the States. NYC and basically anywhere West Indians live is well represented.
Caribana hands down the best event in the city. All people are welcome there, so even if your not W.I. background you'll still have fun.

[frostyb007]

All types of people go to the Caribana parade, nobody feels left out. Food, water and souveniers are a bit expensive but that's to be expected. It is a safe event in my opinion. Friday night on yonge st. is always interesting, everyone brings down their suped up cars and traffic comes to a halt as the streets are PACKED with people jus hanging around. Clubs are usually at least twice the usual price too, there are larger scenes called "fete's" some of these like the one at wild water kingdom will have over 10,000 ppl (tickets usually $40-$50 per)